Your poll isn’t a representation of the people outside these and forums and means little to be honest.
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iPhone 17 No love for the base model?
- Thread starter littlepud
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Your poll isn’t a representation of the people outside these and forums and means little to be honest.
To be honest if I had an older phone like a 14 pro max I would have upgraded to iPhone 17 it’s just if you have a recent pro max like 15 or 16 the 17 is a downgrade . The 17 is amazing value and I do think it’s the best all rounder
Just picked up a Black 17 256GB and traded in a 15 Pro. Very happy, not missing the "Pro" features at all.
You already answered your own question. On these forums and online in general, the people discussing iPhones are mostly enthusiasts who buy something other than the base model. However, I’m quite sure the base model will end up being the best-selling one in the whole lineup, the only one that might outsell it is the Air.
I personally think that base model is easily best value for regular user, especially this year.
I personally think that base model is easily best value for regular user, especially this year.
I recently made a thread here about going from a 15 Pro to a 13 Mini to a 16e.
I missed the 13 Mini (had one when it first came out) and I absolutely love the size, but the unfortunate reality is that it is a 4-year-old phone at this point. Battery life is awful (though I could always install a new one, but that only goes so far), the phone gets hot very easily, the screen can be hard to see in daylight, it’s annoying to bring an extra Lightning cable when everything else uses USB-C, and 4GB of RAM means apps constantly reload, at least on iOS 18.
The switch to the 16e wasn’t bad at all but I am missing a couple of features I had taken for granted– I had no idea how much I relied on the U1 chip to precisely find my AirTags (mainly for my keys and wallet; I didn’t even know that the 16e lacked the chip). The lack of MagSafe can be ameliorated with a case that has a magnet ring but it also means that my OG MagSafe battery pack isn’t compatible with the 16e, so I can’t check the remaining battery for the battery pack on iOS and for some reason the phone gets really hot when using it. I’ve also missed the Dynamic Island from the 15 Pro, it’s one of those things that is really handy once you use it and the apps designed for it.
I’m trading in the 15 Pro for a base 17. The ProMotion display in the base 17 means the only thing I’d be missing from the Pro is the telephoto camera and slightly better battery life; I’ve never used the pro video features and LiDAR is one of those things I used once, said “huh, neat”, and never used again. I’m also excited for the square selfie sensor and checking out the 1 nit display at night. I hesitated for a bit before buying it so the 17 should arrive during the second week of October.
I’ll keep the 16e as a backup phone, and the 13 mini to tinker with. I’m starting to run longer distances so the 13 mini might become my “running phone” since my cellular AW9’s battery gets drained from using cellular and I don’t really want an Ultra (or an Apple Watch anymore, tbh).
I missed the 13 Mini (had one when it first came out) and I absolutely love the size, but the unfortunate reality is that it is a 4-year-old phone at this point. Battery life is awful (though I could always install a new one, but that only goes so far), the phone gets hot very easily, the screen can be hard to see in daylight, it’s annoying to bring an extra Lightning cable when everything else uses USB-C, and 4GB of RAM means apps constantly reload, at least on iOS 18.
The switch to the 16e wasn’t bad at all but I am missing a couple of features I had taken for granted– I had no idea how much I relied on the U1 chip to precisely find my AirTags (mainly for my keys and wallet; I didn’t even know that the 16e lacked the chip). The lack of MagSafe can be ameliorated with a case that has a magnet ring but it also means that my OG MagSafe battery pack isn’t compatible with the 16e, so I can’t check the remaining battery for the battery pack on iOS and for some reason the phone gets really hot when using it. I’ve also missed the Dynamic Island from the 15 Pro, it’s one of those things that is really handy once you use it and the apps designed for it.
I’m trading in the 15 Pro for a base 17. The ProMotion display in the base 17 means the only thing I’d be missing from the Pro is the telephoto camera and slightly better battery life; I’ve never used the pro video features and LiDAR is one of those things I used once, said “huh, neat”, and never used again. I’m also excited for the square selfie sensor and checking out the 1 nit display at night. I hesitated for a bit before buying it so the 17 should arrive during the second week of October.
I’ll keep the 16e as a backup phone, and the 13 mini to tinker with. I’m starting to run longer distances so the 13 mini might become my “running phone” since my cellular AW9’s battery gets drained from using cellular and I don’t really want an Ultra (or an Apple Watch anymore, tbh).
Lowest specs and lowest price is the 16e, quite a difference in both from the 17. The 17 is also competitive with the 16 Pro, which I don’t think happened before in that way.
For me I feel that Apple treats the SE series and now the 16e as the ugly stepchild while the regular 16 and 17 are the actual base models.
The major thing is probably the ProMotion display and thinner bezels. I’ve wanted this for awhile now and they finally did it, and with no compromises to the version that Pro phones have had. Then the added details around the display: better scratch resistance (I use my phone with no case and no screen protector) and anti-reflection coating (not a huge factor, but it helps).
Then in order of relative importance…
- The ultrawide camera getting a bump to 48mp.
- Strong performance of the base A19 chip (and nice things to have like Bluetooth 6 and dual-precision GPS)
- The new front facing camera, a really nice quality of life improvement here and a very smart upgrade by Apple
- Improved battery life
- Base model starting at 256GB (I’ve always had 256GB, but this made the cost to upgrade cheaper)
Basically this felt like one of the few times where Apple didn’t gatekeep a lot of little stuff just for the Pro line that otherwise could have gone into the base phone. It’s altogether a really well rounded package of features now.
My personal pet peeve with the 16e is its lack of MagSafe, and that it could be $100 less, and ideally it would have a completely flush camera. Otherwise I think it’s really fine.For me I feel that Apple treats the SE series and now the 16e as the ugly stepchild while the regular 16 and 17 are the actual base models.
The only reason I didn’t use the SE2/3 is that it’s wider and heavier than the mini, and that I dislike the rounded edge. Originally I had an iPhone 6, but found it too large compared to the 5, and the edges too slippery, and therefore upgraded to the SE1 when it came out, and then to the mini (I was still disappointed that it was larger and heavier than the SE1, but at least it was narrower than the 6 and had flat edges).
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Yeah, MSRP is $100 too high and it really should've had MagSafe. At least the lack of MagSafe can be remedied with a cheap case.
I got the 6+ when that came out (2014?). Loved the battery life during the 2-month honeymoon period but the size eventually got too annoying. I gave the 6+ to my brother and got the 6 for myself and have been quite happy with that size since. I do use cases though which help with grip. I used the Speck CandyShell/Presidio Grip from iPhone 6 to SE (2020).
I've tried both the Pro and the Air and I'm going back to base. The iPhone 16 was the first base model I purchased since the Pro was introduced and it was great. The Pro is once again much too heavy and the Air is beautiful but feels like a prototype, so I'm going back to base... 17 sage here I come.